Sighting apparatus for ordnance.



. A. T. DAWSON & G. T. BUOKHAM.

SIGHTING APPARATUS FOR ORDNANGE. APPLICATION FILED NOV. 20,1908.

924,746. Patented June 15, 1909.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

wzzzwd rm: Ivv'RRrs PETERS cm, wasnmprou. n. c.

A. T. DAWSON & G. T. BUGKHAM. SIGHTING APPARATUS FOR ORDNANGE.

, APPLICATION FILED NOV.20, 1908. 924,746. PatentedJune 15, 1909.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

1m: NORRIS FETERS co, WASHINGTON, n. c

A. T. DAWSON & G. T BUCKHAM. I SIGHTING APPARATUS FOR ORDNANGE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 20,1908.

Z m4 .J

mm a m M M a m w \l.%

A. T. DAWSON & G. T. BUUKHAM. SIGHTING APPARATUS FOR ORDNANGE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 20, 1908.

Patented June 15, 1909.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4-.-

0., WASHINGTON, n. ::v

TENT

ARTHUR TREVOR DAWSON AND GEORGE THOMAS BUOKHAM, OF WESTMINSTER, LONDON, ENGLAND, ASSIGNORS 'lO VIOKERS SONS & MAXIM LIMITED, OF WESTMINSTER,

ENGLAND.

SIGHTING APPARATUS FOR ORDNANCE.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, ARTHUR TREVOR DAWSON and GEORGE THOMAS BUCKHAM, both subjects of the King of Great Britain, residing at 32 Victoria street, l/Vestminster, in the county of London, England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in and Relating to Sighting Apparatus for Ordnance, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to sighting apparatus already proposed by us of the kind in which there is a traveling pointer that is movable in or adjacent to the plane of a range dial, which is operated by the sighting apparatus during its elevation or adjustment by hand through the intervention of the usual rack and pinion arrangement. The said traveling pointer is actuated or set by an electric motor which is controlled from the distant lace or station whence the information re ating to the range is obtained. The said dial and pointer are used in combination with what is termed a calibrating device which is so connected with the hand gear for setting the sighting apparatus that the said pointer, in addition to the movement it receives from the electric motor, also receives movement from the hand gear to an extent varying with the previous adjustment of the calibrating device and the eX- tent of the angular movement of the range dial, the object of the calibrating device being to correct the range indications in ac cordance with the fall in muzzle velocity due to repeated firing of the gun and in accordance with the change in temperature of the charges.

According to our present invention, in stead of setting or adjusting the sighting apparatus through the intervention of the usual rack and pinion arrangement, when the range dial is set by hand to accord with the movements of the electrically actuated pointer, it is set or adjusted through the intervention of a cam and roller arrangement, the contour of the said cam being such that its angular movement is directly proportional to the ran e, so that the range graduations on the dia? are equally spaced and the increments of increasing or diminishing range indicated by the movement of the pointer are equal. The number of revolutions of the handle of the electrical transmitting appa- Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed November 20, 1908.

Patented June 15, 1909.

Serial No. 463,730.

ratus at the distant station for actuating the pointer and the extent of angular movement of the said pointer under the influence of the calibrating device, are thus reduced.

According to a modification, the roller appertaining to the aforesaid cam, is carried by an intermediate link or lever provided with means for enabling its pivot or fulcrum to be changed, so that the amplitude of movement of the sight bar will increase or diminish as desired when the sight-setting operation is being performed, the said link or lever thus serving as a calibrating device for use with, or in substitution for, the aforesaid calibrating device for the range pointer. When used in addition to the calibrating device for the range pointer, it can be adapted to effect tenuity corrections; or it may be adapted to effect the muzzle velocity and temperature corrections and the other calibrating device may be adapted to effect the tenuity corrections.

In order that our said invention may be clearly understood and readily carried into effect we will describe the same more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of one form of the improved sighting apparatus, and Fig. 2 is a sectional plan of the same. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of a modified form of the improved sighting apparatus, and Figs. 4, 5 and 6 are side elevations showing in a more or less diagrammatic manner several different positions in the elevation of the apparatus.

A is the pivoted sight bar which is hinged at A to a bracket A adapted to be fixed to the gun mounting in the usual manner. The said sight bar has depending from its rear end an are or segment A which works in a corresponding socket A of the bracket A for the purpose of imparting steadiness to the sight bar during its movements of elevation.

B is the sight carrier pivoted at B to the sight bar so as to be capable of movement in a horizontal plane on a guide at its forward end by actuating the deflection hand wheel C as is well understood.

0 is the deflection dial and O the index or pointer appertaining thereto.

D is the range dial which is provided with the ordinary worm wheel D gearing with the worm D that receives motion from the hand wheel D for setting the range dial in the usual manner, the said dial being loosely mounted on the bearing D of the range dial casing D E is the index or pointer which receives its movements throughworm gearing E from the electro-motor which is actuated from the distant station by means of any appropriate transmitting apparatus.

E is the motor casing which forms part of the calibrating device and is pivotally mounted on the bearing D of the range dial casing I) so as to be capable of angular movement about the axis of the dial. The said motor casing is coupled by a link d to a sliding block (1* which. is adjustably mounted on the arm (Z of a bell crank lever carried by a pivot d on the dial casing D The other arm d of this bell crank lever has a roller d that engages with a cam or spiral groove (F in the back of the range dial. The arm d is provided with a scale and the sliding block d is also provided with a scale and an adjustable pointer d, the said scales serving to indicate the position to which the sliding block has to be set to obtain the aforesaid corrections. The aforesaid pointer E is moved by the electromotor and in setting the range dial by the hand gear to bring the spotting mark ."c thereon into coincidence with the pointer the movement imparted to the said. bell crank lever by the spiral groove d will be transmitted to the motor casing by the said link (1 the calibrating device thus operating to vary the position of the pointer and thus compensate for the variations in the muzzle velocity and charge temperature in accordance with the position to which the sliding block d has been set.

F is the cam which is mounted on a spindle f carried by the bracket A This spindle has a toothed wheel f that gears with a toothed wheel f 3 forming part of the range dial, so that when the said dial is moved by the hand wheel D the said cam is likewise moved to a corresponding extent and by acting on the rollerf carried by the sight bar A, causes the latter to move up or down about its hinge A and vary the angle of elevation of the sight. In Figs. 1 and 2 this rollerf is carried directly by the sight bar, but in Figs. 3 to 6 it is carried by the intermediate link or lever f which at its rear end, is pivoted at f to the sight bar, and at its forward end is slotted at f to receive a sliding or adjustable pivot-block j which is capable of being clamped or otherwise fixed in any desired position with respect to the forward end of the intermediate link or lever. For this purpose the said adjustable block may have a stem extending through a slot f S in the sight bracket A said stem being furnished with a nut for clamping it in the desired position with respect to the slotted link. The said stem is capable of turning in the slot f s to allow the sight bar to be elevated. The position of the pivot about which the forward end of the said link or lever moves under the action of the aforesaid cam and roller arrangement can thus be altered and the angular movement of the said sight bar varied so that its amplitude of movement will increase or diminish as desired, during the sight setting operation. For instance if the adjustable block f be placed in the intermediate position 2 in Fig. 3 the movement of the sight bar will be normal, but if the said adjustable block be placed in the position shown in Figs. 4 and 5 and indicated by z in Fig. 3 the movement of the sight bar will be at the minimum and if placed in the position shown in Fig. 6 and as indicated by .2 in Fig. 3 the movement of the sight bar will be at the maximum. By suitably setting the said adjustable block it will therefore be seen that the said intermediate link or lever will operate as a calibrating device and may be used in addition to or in substitution for the pointer-calibrating device as aforesaid.

In some cases it may be found advantageous to apply the aforesaid intermediate link or lever having its pivot capable of adjustment, to sighting apparatus in which the sight setting operation is effected by hand through the intervention of devices other than the cam and roller arrangement hereinbefore described.

hat we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is 1. In gun sighting apparatus, the combi nation of a hand actuated range dial bearing equally spaced graduations corresponding to equal increments of range, an electrically actuated pointer movable over said. dial, and a cam having a contour such that its angular movement is directly proportional to the range, for elevating the sight simultaneously with the operation of the range dial.

2. In gun sighting apparatus, the combination of a hand-actuated range dial, an electrically actuated pointer movable over said dial, a calibrating device, and a cam for elevating the sight simultaneously with the operation of the range dial.

3. In gun sighting apparatus, the combination of a hand-actuated range dial, an electrically actuated pointer movable over said dial, means for imparting a differential movement to said pointer during the actuation of the range dial, and a cam for elevating the sight simultaneously with the operation of the range dial.

4. In gun sighting apparatus the combination of a spirally-grooved hand-actuated range dial, a pointer movable over said dial, an electric motor for operating said pointer and mounted in an angularly displaceable casing, a lever mounted on a stationary pivot and engaging at one end with the spiral groove in the range dial, an adjustable block mounted on the other end of said lever and connected with the said casing that carries the motor, and a cam for elevating the sight simultaneously with the operation of the range dial.

5. In gun sighting apparatus, the combination of a hand-actuated range dial, an electrically actuated pointer movable over said dial, a cam for elevating the sight simultaneously with the operation of the range dial and means whereby the amplitude of movement imparted to the sight by the cam can be increased or diminished as desired.

6. In gun sighting apparatus having a hinged sight bar carrying the sights, the com bination of a hand-actuated range dial, an electrically actuated pointer movable over said dial, an elevating device for elevating the sight simultaneously with the operation of the range dial, and a pivoted lever interposed between the said elevating device and the sight bar carrying the sights, the pivot of said lever being adjustable in position.

7. In gun sighting apparatus having a hinged sight bar carrying the sights, the combination of a hand-actuated range dial, an electrically actuated pointer movable over said dial, a cam for elevating the sight simultaneously with the o erating of the range dial, a lever interpose between the said cam and the sight bar carrying the sights, a hinged connection between said lever and said sight bar, and an adjustable pivot engaging with a slot in the said lever and about which the latter fulcrums during its movement.

8. In gun sighting apparatus having a hinged sight bar carrying the sights, the combination of a hand-actuated range dial, an electrically actuated pointer movable over said dial, means for imparting a differential movement to said pointer during the actuation oi the range dial, an elevating device for elevating the sight simultaneously with the operation of the range dial, and a pivoted lever interposed between the said elevating device and the sight bar carrying the sights, the pivot of said lever being adjustable in position.

9. In gun sighting apparatus having a hinged sight bar carrying the sights, the combination with a hand-actuated range dial, an electrically actuated pointer movable over said dial, means for imparting a differential movement to said pointer during the actuation of the range dial, a cam for elevating the sight simultaneously with the operation of the range dial, a lever interposed between the said cam and the sight bar carrying the sights, a hinged connection between said lever and said sight bar, and a pivot engaging with a slot in said lever and about which the lat ter fulcrums during its movement.

In testimony whereof We aflix our signatures in presence of two witnesses.

ARTHUR TREVOR DAI/VSON.

GEORGE THOMAS BUCKIIAM. I/Vitnesses HENRY KING,

F. MAGEE. 

